New Beginnings & Lost Wallets
by just a liar
Summary: AU! Paige is the new girl at Rosewood and she finds a lost wallet when she goes on a run. Inside, there's a letter from a girl named Emily (who apparently has lost so many wallets she now leaves letters to strangers) asking for the wallet to be returned. Paige makes it her task to find this mysterious girl and give her her wallet back. Lots of dorkiness that ends up with a date.


AU! Paige is the new girl at Rosewood and she finds a lost wallet while running. Inside, there's a letter from a girl named Emily (who apparently has lost so many wallets she now leaves letters to strangers) asking Paige to return it to her. Lots of dorkiness that ends up with a date.

The story goes from Paige's POV to Emily's POV and will stay as a one-shot, unless you guys wish otherwise. If it stays as a one-shot, don't fret about it. I'll be sure to write a Paily fanfic from time to time.

Anyways, the word count for this story is 3,473.

* * *

The trail is rocky and new to your soles, so you sometimes struggle to maintain your balance as you jog through the forest you decided to explore this morning. It's a new town and obviously the first thing that came to your mind was not to have breakfast, but to go for a run on a chilly Monday morning. You shrug. It could be worse. You continue making your way towards Rosewood thinking of a hot cup of tea and maybe a bagel to go with it; or a cupcake, a coconut cupcake sounds really nice.

You are almost out of the trail so you focus your eyes on the houses just outside the forest, losing sight of the road for a moment. You muse on who could live in such an enormous house, but who are you to judge? Your father just bought one of the biggest houses in town so you can't say much about the matter.

You smile at the thought of your father ranting about the size of the house and how great it will be to have your own pool to train and all is good, but then you trip over and end up with a little dirt in your mouth and that's about it, the thought of breakfast flies right out of the window and is a no-no now. You wipe your mouth with the back of your hand and take a deep breath as you stand up, looking for the object that made you fall over. The answer is really, really, _really_ dumb. A wallet. There's a freaking big ass wallet in the middle of a forest trail (it is not even that big but you are not going to admit that) and you, Paige McCullers, the star track runner and swimmer known for her coordination, tripped over it. You scoff loudly as you grab it from the ground and blow gently wiping off the dirt and dust.

Curiosity sneaks in and you open it finding several things inside: there's a couple 10 dollar bills and some coupons for a pizza place nearby you saw on your way towards here and there's some pictures of a group of girls smiling at the camera with some Halloween costumes. You almost find yourself smiling along but then you remember it was one of these girls fault that you fell over (not really, but you've gotta blame someone else). You grunt and make the move to stuff it into your pocket thinking of later on taking it to the police station, you ain't going on a wild goose chase looking for the owner because it would be quite creepy, but then you notice a piece of paper sticking out of the wallet and you decide otherwise as you take it out.

The words 'Dear stranger' are scribbled across it and you think it is quite odd for a letter to be addressed like that. Your inner voice tells you to stop but you open it in a moment of weakness. The letter goes as followed:

"Hey stranger, thank you for finding my wallet. This is not the first time I have lost it, in fact, I've lost count of how many wallets I have had to buy and how many lost pizza coupons I've fretted over because of my scattered-brain and clumsiness. So my friends suggested to write a note in order to hopefully retrieve it. Anyways, I really like this wallet and I'm really embarrassed to ask you but, could you maybe take it to the address at the bottom of this letter? I would really appreciate it. I can even buy you a few cookies or maybe a coffee if you are no into cookies, or whatever the hell you want (unless you want something really expensive, then I would have to refuse). Anyways, I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks a lot in advance, Emily Fields."

You find yourself smiling widely and you don't care if you look like a fool, with a scraped knee and a trail of dirt in your face clutching a small piece of paper smiling like a fool.

You like this Emily Fields, you really do. And as you walk home to get cleaned up you can not help but think of which of the girls from the picture is Emily. The small voice in your head tells you it is the cute brunette who is dressed up as Pocahontas, but you ignore it once again.

First you will take a shower and maybe go for breakfast at that small café you passed by yesterday when you arrived to Rosewood and then you will go look for this Emily girl.

'Yeah, that sounds like a good plan' you say to yourself as you walk happily towards home

* * *

"Hey Spencer, what's up?" you ask into the phone as you clean the tables at The Brew, the coffee shop you have been working at for a couple months

"Hanna told me you lost your wallet, _again._ " Spencer says exasperated and you curse under your breath making a mental note of telling Hanna off

"What? Really? Oh, you know how Hanna is. Always making things up, Spence." you say with your most convincing tone crossing your fingers

"Don't play dumb with me, Emily. Just tell me, did you lose your wallet?"

You sigh softly and she groans on the other end.

"I'm sorry Spence! I swear I was careful this time and I didn't just drop it off somewhere dumb."

"Oh really? Where did you lose it, then?"

There's an awkward silence and Spencer groans again.

"You don't even know do you?" to that you respond with a soft and shy 'no' and you swear you can hear her growling

"It's the fifth time you've lost one in these past months, Emily."

"I know, I know. But hey, I wrote the message you told me to!" you say trying to defend yourself and it actually works because Spencer is now breathing evenly

"The 'please return to Emily Fields here's the address' message?"

"Maybe it was a bit different, but I wrote it. So don't you worry! I bet a good samaritan will give it back."

"Let's hope so, Em. Wait, what did the message say?" she inquires with the 'what did you do this time' tone and you decide it's time to cut her off

"Oh, Zack just got here, gotta go. Talk to you later, Spence." a 'wait, I know he is not there' is heard from the other line but you quickly end the call and sigh loudly after doing so

You pray to anyone who listens for your wallet to be returned before Spencer's true rage is released.

* * *

You do get home and clean up as you had planned to, but your father is home and as you try to sneak out he starts saying how you don't hang out with him anymore and how fun would a 'Lost' marathon be as quality time between father and daughter.

You reluctantly agree as he mentions ordering sushi for the third time in a row and set the blu-ray while looking for the first season of Lost.

Turns out it was not as bad as you had thought and you actually enjoy watching a bloodied Evangeline Lilly trying to find out what is wrong with the island.

You watch around 7 episodes until you tell your father you'll 'hit the hay', as he used to joke when you were a kid, and he smiles at you bidding you good night as he starts tidying up the living room.

You run up the stairs to get to you room and as soon as you gently close the door you are taking out the wallet from your pocket.

You can not help but feel a little like a creep as you take the photograph inside the wallet, so you just take one last peak at the girl you think is Emily and then proceed to place the wallet on your sleep table.

You change into your pajamas and try to get some sleep, but you can not stop thinking of a girl you have not even met, so you give up on sleeping at the time and decide on swimming fro awhile. Maybe that will take your mind off thinking how her voice sounds like or something. You really feel like a creep.

It's just after a second shower and with the clock pointing at three o'clock that you finally manage to get some sleep.

* * *

The day starts off really well after getting a full night of rest and getting ready for your shift. Summer mornings are a blessing even though you have to rush to The Brew pretty early. But even though you work most of the day, it usually flies by as you go from costumer to costumer or also thanks to your friends visiting from time to time.

It's five pm already and you are running around the place getting orders ready and cleaning up after costumers. Zack took the day off so it's up to you and the new kid Caleb to take care of the place.

"How is the cappuccino going, Caleb?"

"Pretty good if I may say so, I've got the hang of it already." he replies with a bright smile and you nod in agreement

You start humming along the radio as you hear the front bell ringing, and you are getting ready for the 'Hello, my name's Emily. How can I help you today?' when you see that blonde hair you know so well.

"Hey, Em. Did you miss me?" Hanna jokes playfully while batting her eyelashes and you roll your eyes

"Save it, Hanna. I know what you did." you scoff out and she sighs heavily

"I'm sorry, Em! You know how Spencer is, she ambushed me! Besides, she would have known the next time you saw her!"

"I could have lied, Han. Say something like 'I forgot it at home' or 'I didn't want to lose it so I didn't bring it' or something, you know?"

She follows you across the front desk as you wipe off any coffee remains that could have been left there.

"I know, I know. Sorry, okay. It's just that- Woah, who is _he_?"

You roll your eyes for the second time in this conversation and continue with your chores.

"He's Caleb. And he's off limits." you reply and she just pouts

"Come on, Em! He's hot and totally my type."

"If you are into unwashed dudes, well then, he is."

"Don't be rude, you've got to admit he's cute."

You turn around for a few seconds and find Caleb looking straight at the both of you, flickering his eyes to mostly stare at Hanna.

You feel another pair of eyes and you roll your eyes for the third time as you let out a 'Fine, go' and watch Hanna skip happily towards Caleb. You let your shoulders drop, knowing the little help you were getting was now gone.

As the minutes fly by, Hanna and Caleb keep talking as people come and go, and as you had thought, you are left alone to deal with all of it.

As the clock marks 7, Hanna finally makes a move to leave, which doesn't actually matter since Caleb is supposed to leave in a couple of minutes. Apparently, he told Hanna as much and you almost groan at the sight of them leaving.

"See you tomorrow, Emily?" Caleb asks guiltily and you smile in reassurance

"Sure thing, have fun."

Hanna gives you a thumbs up as soon as Caleb is out of the door and you shake your head in amusement. So much for telling Hanna off.

The Brew is quite for some minutes, until the front door chimes and you prepare yourself for your usual speech, but the words die in your throat at the sight of the person coming inside.

The girl is gorgeous. Her brown eyes scan the place up and down as she steps shyly inside. She's got long brown hair and a tank top that screams 'I'm hot enough to not wear a jacket over this" and her jeans are fitted into black combat boots. Her whole outfit screams 'sexy' but her eyes and demeanor are reserved, as if she doesn't know how beautiful she is.

As she gets closer to the counter, you discreetly take a deep breath and straighten your apron.

"Hey." she breathes out and you swoon, you fucking swoon and she smiles at you

"Hey, what can I help you with?" you ask with your softest voice and you swear she's looking at you like she's trying to remember where has she seen you before, but you shake the thought off since it's the first time you've seen her

"A large vanilla latte, please."

You nod and she smiles again making your knees go weak. She sits down in one of the sofas by the entrance and you can't help but glance at her every 10 seconds. When her coffee is finally ready, you realize you had not asked her her name and you muse on how to call her attention, but then it's almost as she can sense you and she stands up with a smile.

"Sorry, I forgot to ask you your name." you say sheepily and she laughs at your words

"Don't worry, I'm Paige. And thanks." She says with a smile and takes a 5 dollar bill out of her wallet handing it over to you with a short 'keep the change'

She opens her mouth as if to ask your name but her phone rings at the same time a group of costumers come in. You are about to yell at them for interrupting the moment, but the only thing you do is smile at her as she mouths a 'bye' and leaves the shop.

You sigh defeatedly and take the swarm of orders to take your mind of Paige and her beautiful smile and soft laugh.

* * *

It's been an hour since you exited the coffee shop with the girl that looked so much like Emily and you find yourself walking towards the address at the bottom of the letter. You shuffle the wallet between your hands nervously as you approach your destination. You take a deep breath and push the door bell as your nerves make you sweat a little.

You hear feet shuffling and a middle-age woman opens the door and you hide your disappointment.

"Good evening, what can I help you with?" the woman inquires in a friendly manner and your nerves dissipate a little bit

"Hey, yesterday I found a wallet as I was jogging in the woods and there was a letter inside that said it was to be returned here?" your statement ends up being more of a question than anything else and you are glad the woman doesn't question you

"Oh, Emily. Always the clumsy one. Let me go get her, but please, come in."

As you step into the house you almost feel like home due to the coziness of it. There's some swimming trophies here and there and a few photos of a happy looking couple, but before you can continue snooping around a gentle voice stops your search.

"Paige?"

"Emily?"

The look of confusion mirrors in both your faces as you try to grasp the idea of what is happening. Emily, the clumsy girl who apparently goes around losing wallets is the same girl you met at the Brew you were seconds away to hit on before you had to leave. 'Wow McCullers, you really are dumb, aren't you?' you think as you just stare at Emily

"What are you doing here?" she asks and you just lose all coherent thought as she looks at you

You can't stop the flow of words that rush out of you mouth so you just brace your self for the impact as soon as you say them.

"You are even more beautiful in person."

The way she raises her eyebrow makes you think that maybe it wasn't so bad because damn, she looks good. But still, you try your best to fix it.

"I mean, I know we met today and that I had already seen you in person but you know... what I meant is that you look better in person than in your photograph... Oh god, that came out worse. I'm not a stalker or anything, and I didn't go looking for a photo of you don't think of it like that. I just found your waller and there was a photo inside and I know it was wrong but I just took a look. Well, maybe I looked at it a few times but not in a creepy, rapist kinda way. I just, I don't know, I had a feeling that the girl dressed up as Pocahontas was you and I, and I... Okay, I think I have messed this up enough times now so I am going to shut up now."

The speech leaves you out of breath and you look down to your feet, waiting for her to say something, maybe something like: 'Thanks for the wallet, now leave' or 'I don't even want it go away'. But instead of that, a soft laugh makes its way into your ears and you look up to find the most beautiful sight you have ever seen. Her whole body is shaking as her laugh breaks through it and she's got a hand over her mouth trying desperately not to cry from laughter.

"You should have started with that, Paige!"

You just look at her and sigh with relief, thankful that you she didn't think you are a crazy stalker like Brandon James in 'Scream'.

As her laughter dies out she finally focuses on you and comes to the realization of what you said.

"Oh, you found my wallet? Where was it?"

"At a forest trail not far from here. I went running yesterday and found it there. So I brought it. With your pizza coupons and everything so you don't have to worry about getting new ones."

She smiles at you as if you have just said the most wonderful news in the world and you just smile dipping your head.

"Thank you very much, I really appreciate you returning it."

"No biggie. It is what anyone would do."

She shakes her head and smiles at your innocence, making you blush deeply.

"Well, I've gotta go. Sorry for coming in like a creep and stuff." She nods and you both walk towards the door, but before you walk down the steps she gently touches your shoulder making you stop

"Hey, remember what the letter said? I owe you some cookies, or a coffee. Or whatever the hell you want if it is below a reasonable amount of money." you smile at her suggestion but you refuse gently, saying she really doesn't have to

"Well, how about this: we can go to the pizza place I have coupons from. In that way we can both what we wanted."

"And what is that each one of us wants?" you inquire with a subtle glint in your eyes as she just shrugs lightly

"Well, I imagine you would like some pizza and I really want to go on a date with you."

You blush so much you can feel the heat on your cheeks and she giggles softly at your reaction.

"So... is that a yes?"

"Definitely."

"Tomorrow at seven? I get off work at that time."

"Sure. That sounds great."

A comfortable silence falls over the both of you and you just bask it in.

As you are about to say something, she leans in and plants a sweet kiss on your cheek that makes your whole body tingle.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

You can just nod and give her a dorky smile as you walk down the steps. You turn around to see her standing at the door. With a final wave, she closes the door and you start walking home.

Even after you are settled in your bed, waiting for sleep to come, you can still feel her lips on your cheeks so you press your hand against it while sighing.

You decide Rosewood is a good place after all.


End file.
